Filed: Oct. 29, 2019
Latest Update: Mar. 03, 2020
Summary: NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _ No. 18-1304 _ STEPHEN UKO UDOH, Appellant v. HERMINIA MOREIRA; DAWN SOLARI; STEPHEN B. RUBIN _ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civil Action No. 3-14-cv-02929) District Judge: Honorable Freda L. Wolfson _ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) January 2, 2019 Before: MCKEE, COWEN and ROTH, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: October 29, 2019) _ OPINION* _ PER CURIAM * T
Summary: NOT PRECEDENTIAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT _ No. 18-1304 _ STEPHEN UKO UDOH, Appellant v. HERMINIA MOREIRA; DAWN SOLARI; STEPHEN B. RUBIN _ On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civil Action No. 3-14-cv-02929) District Judge: Honorable Freda L. Wolfson _ Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a) January 2, 2019 Before: MCKEE, COWEN and ROTH, Circuit Judges (Opinion filed: October 29, 2019) _ OPINION* _ PER CURIAM * Th..
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NOT PRECEDENTIAL
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
___________
No. 18-1304
__________
STEPHEN UKO UDOH,
Appellant
v.
HERMINIA MOREIRA; DAWN SOLARI; STEPHEN B. RUBIN
____________________________________
On Appeal from the United States District Court
for the District of New Jersey
(D.C. Civil Action No. 3-14-cv-02929)
District Judge: Honorable Freda L. Wolfson
____________________________________
Submitted Pursuant to Third Circuit LAR 34.1(a)
January 2, 2019
Before: MCKEE, COWEN and ROTH, Circuit Judges
(Opinion filed: October 29, 2019)
___________
OPINION*
___________
PER CURIAM
*
This disposition is not an opinion of the full Court and pursuant to I.O.P. 5.7 does not
constitute binding precedent.
Stephen Uko Udoh appeals from an order of the United States District Court for
the District of New Jersey, which dismissed his civil rights suit. We will affirm the
District Court’s judgment.
In May 2014, Udoh, proceeding pro se, filed a complaint in the District Court
against a state prosecutor, a public defender, and a state court judge who were involved in
involuntarily committing him to the Ann Klein Forensic Center. Udoh claimed that the
Defendants violated his constitutional rights by institutionalizing him because he refused
to plead guilty (to unspecified charges). The complaint alleged that experts had reported
that Udoh was not mentally ill but “was only upset for being terminated unlawfully from
his state job.” Udoh sought $35 billion in damages.
The Defendants filed motions to dismiss the complaint. The District Court
granted the motions, ruling, among other things, that Udoh failed to state a claim upon
which relief could be granted, for numerous reasons. The District Court declined to give
Udoh an opportunity to amend, because, among other reasons, he essentially had already
2
had an opportunity to do so,1 and because some of the defects could not be cured by
amendment. Udoh timely appealed.2
Udoh’s brief fails to raise any challenge to the District Court’s decision to dismiss
his complaint, aside from saying that a “claim was stated.” Appellant’s Brief at 2. He
has thus waived review of the District Court’s decision. See Barna v. Bd. of Sch. Dirs. of
Panther Valley Sch. Dist.,
877 F.3d 136, 145-46 (3d Cir. 2017) (noting that “we have
consistently refused to consider ill-developed arguments” or those not properly preserved
due to passing and conclusory statements). Nonetheless, to the extent his brief could be
construed as contesting the District Court’s decision, Udoh’s complaint was properly
dismissed, for the reasons stated in the margin.3
1
In December 2013, Udoh filed a complaint against the same Defendants (among
others), based on the same involuntary commitment. See D.N.J. Civ. No. 13-cv-07384.
The District Court dismissed the complaint without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 8, and
granted Udoh 30 days to amend the complaint. He did not do so; instead, he filed two
new complaints based on the same incident. Those complaints were both dismissed with
prejudice before Udoh filed the complaint at issue here. See D.N.J. Civ. No. 13-cv-
07491 and D.N.J. Civ. No. 13-cv-07492.
2
We have jurisdiction to review the District Court’s order pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
We review the District Court’s order of dismissal de novo. See Newark Cab Ass’n v.
City of Newark,
901 F.3d 146, 151 (3d Cir. 2018); Davis v. Wells Fargo,
824 F.3d 333,
346 (3d Cir. 2016). “We may affirm a district court for any reason supported by the
record.” Brightwell v. Lehman,
637 F.3d 187, 191 (3d Cir. 2011).
3
The District Court properly held that the state court judge and prosecutor were entitled
to absolute immunity. See Gallas v. Sup. Ct. of Pa.,
211 F.3d 760, 768 (3d Cir. 2000);
Imbler v. Pachtman,
424 U.S. 409, 410 (1976). The Court also properly held that the
public defender was immune from suit to the extent she was performing traditional
functions as counsel. Polk County v. Dodson,
454 U.S. 312, 325 (1981). To the extent
3
In his brief, Udoh states that “[t]he District Court erred by refusing to transfer
Appellant [sic] case to Newark,” because “[t]hey are all ‘RACISTS’ in the United States
District Courthouse in Trenton, NJ.” Appellant’s Brief at 1. His claims of racism are
completely unsupported and do not provide any reason for overturning the District
Court’s judgment.
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court’s judgment.
Udoh claimed that the public defender intentionally conspired with state officials to
deprive Udoh of his rights, his allegations were devoid of facts and conclusory, and they
were properly dismissed because they failed to allege a plausible claim upon which relief
could be granted.
4